Wallace College - Baseball Press Releases

Izzio signs with Wallace	2009-01-24
If Anthony Izzio performs at the college level as he’s done in high school, then Wallace baseball coach Mackey Sasser has landed a top notch player. Izzio, a pitcher/shortstop from Vancleave High School in Mississippi, signed with the Govs Friday afternoon.
“My brother Nick plays at Troy and I had heard a lot about the Wallace program,” Izzio said. “I liked it here and it just seemed like the perfect fit.” A quick glance at Izzio’s high school statistics show he was a big reason his team made it all the way to the state semifinals. On the mound, he was 11-1 with a 1.6 earned run average. He struck out 82 batters in only 92 innings. He also threw nine complete games and had two saves. And a reward for his work, he got to play in a local All-Star game, and was named to the local newspaper’s All-Star team. And if that wasn’t enough, consider this. He has six pitches. “I throw from three different arm angles,” Izzio said. And when questioned about how a catcher calls for six different pitches when he only has five fingers, he replied “That’s where the fist comes in handy.” Izzio can also handle himself at the plate. He bat .374 on the year. And when he wasn’t hitting or pitching, he was playing short stop. “I just want to play,” he said. “I am one of those players that never wants to come out of the game. I’m a real gritty player. I just don’t like having a clean uniform.” “Since we’re only signing a handful of players this year, we have to be real careful who we sign,” Sasser said. “Anthony is one of those players who will come in here and help us win. We are losing our short stop after this year, so that’s where he will see a lot of action. He will also spend a good amount of his time on the mound. I just don’t know if it will be as a starter or a closer.” For his part, Izzio said, “I don’t care where the coach puts me. I just want to play. I’m so excited I’m ready to play right now.” Nathaniel Frazier is Sports Information Director for Wallace College baseball. He can be reached at NFrazier@DothanEagle.com.